Careers - GUIDE TO APPRENTICESHIPS

TIP: Separating the voluntary work from the paid work can help make the voluntary work more prominent. Although this role may not be relevant to the new area of work you are applying for, it highlights transferable skills and experience such as supervisory and management skills. Positions of responsibility such as sports captain may not be related to the job, but this does highlight leadership qualities.

Top Five CV Pitfalls

1. Typing errors, poor spelling and grammar. Not everyone’s perfect, but even if spelling and grammar are not one of your strong points this is not the place to show it! A mistake free CV gives shows that you are professional – first impressions count. 2. Not tailoring your CV to the job you are applying for. When applying for jobs it can be very tempting to apply for quantity rather than quality by sending the same CV to all employers. By doing this you could be missing an opportunity to sell your most relevant skills. Read the job advertisement and consider exactly what the employer is looking for – by matching and tailoring your CV, you are more likely to achieve your goal 3. Visually unappealing and difficult to read. In an effort to cram as much info into your CV you can make it look cluttered and difficult to read. Use bullet points, lists and short sentences to make it easier for the recruiter to scan for key points. 4. Too long or too short. Another delicate balancing act this one! Your CV should ideally be no more than two pages long. Don’t try to pad it out with irrelevant info.

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